Poll: Most likely N.J. voters think Chris Christie should resign if he knew of lane closures in advance

Jan. 11, 2014

Fifty-six percent of likely New Jersey voters think Gov. Chris Christie should resign from office if it turns out that he knew in advance of the politically motivated George Washington Bridge lane closings that caused massive traffic jams in Bergen County, a new poll shows. / FILE PHOTO

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Fifty-six percent of likely New Jersey voters think Gov. Chris Christie should resign from office if it turns out that he knew in advance of the politically motivated George Washington Bridge lane closings that caused massive traffic jams in Bergen County, a new poll shows.

The Rasmussen Reports poll, released this morning, also shows that 54 percent of likely voters believe the governor did know about the closings before they occurred and knew of their political nature.

The lane closings were ordered by Christie appointees within the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and e-mails released Wednesday show that a key Christie administration staffer was involved in the decision. The speculation is that the closures were ordered because the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee rebuffed efforts to get him to endorse the governor. The governor said he was unaware of any effort to court Mayor Mark Sokolich.

Christie on Thursday fired Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, saying she lied to him about her involvement. He declared again that he knew nothing of the incident or his staff’s involvement.

The poll also shows that voters would not be surprised if other incidents of retaliation and retribution surface. Seventy-one percent of those poll said it’s likely that there was other retaliation as well.

The poll was taken Thursday evening among 800 likely New Jersey voters. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.